registrars GoDaddy Domain Name Expiry Changes

[lennco]

I just received this email,


Good morning,

We are making a change to our domain name expiry process and wanted to give you enough notice to make decisions on your portfolio. GoDaddy is changing the domain renewal timeline from 42 to 30 days for most domains. Based on our research, less than 1% of our customers renew after 30 days.

Starting Dec 4, the following changes will happen to expired domain names:
* After Day 5 of expiration, DNS, email, hosting, redirecting and any other DNS-dependent services will be interrupted and stop working.
* After Day 30 of expiration, domain names are no longer able to be renewed or transferred away.

We wanted to give a heads -up so you have enough notice to make decisions on your portfolio. As always please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions.

Thanks,

 

[Ategy]

The trigger to move to a holding account is a bid. So, in theory, if a bid was placed on 12/3 and no other bids were placed until the auction were won, it could still be redeemed up to day 42 since no new bids occurred after we rolled out on 12/5. I think it's a pretty edge case where an auction is won after 12/5 with all bids happening prior to 12/5 but I suppose that is a possibility for a few more days.

Thanks for the clarification. That's a perfectly reasonable transition. I actually thought it was going to be for domains that expired after Dec 4th .. so in theory it would have been possible for another month. Doesn't really bother me too much as long as it's clear. I still strongly support the rights of the original owners .. 30 days was way more than I was expecting, as I was thinking more like 35 and then trimming a day or two from closeout.

Q1- Is the bid trigger being held over permanently or just for this short week-long transition period? Meaning that people are still allowed to renew until day 42 as long as there is no bid into 2018 and beyond? I'm fine with that too .. again .. as long as it's clear either way!

For our partner registrars, we can't control their expiry timelines, so there still exists the possibility of redemption on that inventory.

That's what I figured .. and I do understand that is completely beyond your control. But the real issue is that there still is no way to tell directly on the GD auction platform which are GoDaddy names and which are from another registrar? I know there is a bug in the platform that shows some of them, but not sure if it's all of them. And seems with you guys successfully getting more and more registrars, we're still going to see clawbacks after auction .. particularly with older domains. I fear a lot of domainers think this means the end of cancelled auctions .. when it fact they are still going to happen .. just less often.

Q2- What percentage of domains are GoDaddy domains vs non-GoDaddy domains?
Q2b- Is it the same percentage for older domains (let's say aged over 10 years)?

 

[lennco]

@Paul Nicks

Hi Paul, I have another expiry issue.
I won 3 names 10 days ago on the 2nd and just yesterday these names were placed in the Didn't Win column in my account.

I just looked at the whois and they are still listed as Expired and Registry Status: RedemptionPeriod
So why would my Auction Wins be taken away from me when they are still expired and have not been renewed?

They are,
AUTONOMOUSPICKUPS.COM
AUTONOMOUSPICKUPTRUCKS.COM
AUTONOMOUSRACINGCAR.COM

Thanks

 

[Michael Daigle]

So domain owners can no longer renew domains after an auction has completed?

Good news for GD auctions buyers. But terrible news for Jason Newby.

I won a GD auction today with 105 total bids / 11 other bidders. Afterwards, I emailed my GoDaddy rep to verify the change in redemption policy. He said, the new redemption window is a max of 30 days, and the auction closes on day 36, so the previous owner won’t be able to recover the name at this time. He then went on to say that this only applies to domains which are registered at GoDaddy. So it is possible that a name registered somewhere else could get redeemed. The domain I bid on is registered at GB so the domain is indeed mine now.

 

[Domainstore]

I won a GD auction today with 105 total bids / 11 other bidders. Afterwards, I emailed my GoDaddy rep to verify the change in redemption policy. He said, the new redemption window is a max of 30 days, and the auction closes on day 36, so the previous owner won’t be able to recover the name at this time. He then went on to say that this only applies to domains which are registered at GoDaddy. So it is possible that a name registered somewhere else could get redeemed. The domain I bid on is registered at GB so the domain is indeed mine now.

Interesting, but what registrar is "GB" ?

I called GDD and the people on the ground don't know exactly how it will go. In any case the 26th day after expiry the auction begins.
What happens if a domain gets a bid on day 26-30, they don't know yet, because the premier people who work there didn't tell them yet. Somewhere I read that if a domain has a bid on it, kit can't be renewed or transferred any more but I dont know exactly for sure.

 

[Arca]

Interesting, but what registrar is "GB" ?

I called GDD and the people on the ground don't know exactly how it will go. In any case the 26th day after expiry the auction begins.
What happens if a domain gets a bid on day 26-30, they don't know yet, because the premier people who work there didn't tell them yet. Somewhere I read that if a domain has a bid on it, kit can't be renewed or transferred any more but I dont know exactly for sure.

I just "lost" a domain I won at GD expired auctions that seemingly got renewed (my order was cancelled and I got a refund a few hours ago). The domain is registered with domain.com, so it indeed looks like this only applies to GoDaddy registered domains.

 

[Ategy]

GoDaddy is a colossal mess .. the big problem is that there is no way of knowing if a domain is a GoDaddy registered domain or not without going through WhoIs and the damn Captcha verification (if I see one more storefront I'm going to lose my mind). For those of us who track a couple hundred domains a day this just isn't realistic.

I won a domain a couple weeks ago .. apparently it ended up being cancelled .. which happens ... But there was zero notification .. I was just waiting for it to arrive, after 2 weeks when I contacted them, "apparently" it was transferred out of the original registrar by the original owner (the only reason I learned it was cancelled). That being said the WhoIs info shows GoDaddy owned NameFind as the admin and GoDaddy owned Afternic as the Registrant!

Just as bad was that I have still yet to receive any form of cancellation notice ... and that despite 42 days after expiration passing over a week ago .. and indications of last transfer happening almost 2 weeks ago. Not an isolated incident!

Interesting, but what registrar is "GB" ?

Based on context I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be GD = GoDaddy

 

[Arca]

That being said the WhoIs info shows GoDaddy owned NameFind as the admin and GoDaddy owned Afternic as the Registrant!

I've seen the same thing with a few names. My win/payment was cancelled and I was refunded, yet WHOIS indicates NameFind/Afternic as the current owner. I wonder why they couldn't deliver the name if they already took ownership of it. I assume such names will be returned to previous owners or let go to pen del.

 

[lennco]

Well after 13 days waiting for my 3 domains that I won at auction that are registered at domain.com I got emails last night saying my auction domains were canceled and I got refunds Only for my transfer fees and not my auction payments ($217 total)

So from here on out I will have to avoid any auctions that are listed with domain.com

 

[offthehandle]

Domainers still gaming the system. GD has the clout to enforce the same rules on other registries whose names are covered under their auction umbrella. I was planning to start bidding again too. The anonymous bidder Flippa style system and the sniping thing without an API is also a problem. Transfers are held up too with bugs in their backend.

 

[Domainstore]

Hello,
does domain.com has an Aftermarket-auctionsystem ?
PLease explain how that works (in my inbox or here).
BTW this thread is not about domain.com but Godaddy domain name expiry changes (and the consequences for people participating in these auctions, and the consequencs for holders of domainnames, because after expiration one get less timeto renew or transfer).

 

[Domainstore]

This topic is also discussed at
https://www.namepros.com/threads/go...our-domains-after-30-days-expiration.1051137/
I asked there several questions for Joe Styler. at the end

 

[lennco]

@Paul Nicks

Hi Paul, I have another expiry issue.
I won 3 names 10 days ago on the 2nd and just yesterday these names were placed in the Didn't Win column in my account.

I just looked at the whois and they are still listed as Expired and Registry Status: RedemptionPeriod
So why would my Auction Wins be taken away from me when they are still expired and have not been renewed?

They are,
AUTONOMOUSPICKUPS.COM
AUTONOMOUSPICKUPTRUCKS.COM
AUTONOMOUSRACINGCAR.COM

Thanks

Just an Update.
Its now been 22 days and still no domains or no refund.

 

[TERADOMAIN]

Just happened with me again. Godaddy must take some clear steps towards their expired auction. They kept lots of loop holes. They allow outside Godaddy expired names to be auctioned on Godaddy. I recently won 1 very good name and today it is in my Didn't won section. Why not godaddy do some agreement with partner registrar to enforce that if name goes to godaddy auction means it is guaranteed to go into owner's account if auction closes with the winner. If Godaddy want to continue with this type of practices then they should start auction after 45 days of expiration so buyer will participate with more confidence. Looks like Godaddy don't even care about buyer. Why do they even care if buyer goes through the situation over and over. Ultimately they make money end of the day and we as buyer wasted our time behind unacceptable policy.

@Joe Styler can you please elaborate on this whenever you get time and chance?? When Godaddy will stop this kind of practices?? I know you will say that you do not control partner registrar policy but as Godaddy decision maker why not list name once it passed stage where owner can't renew. Still do not understand why this kind of policy in place. You can start on 24th day if name are part of Godaddy and 38th day if name from partnering registrar.

We as buyer wants honest and transparent expired auction where there is guarantee of name being transfer once buyer win in auction. Dropcatch and Namejet expired names gets into our account guaranteed. @Joe Styler sir do you have any proper response in that regard??

Thanks

 

[Joe Styler]

We do not have control over another company's domain policies. We are working with various companies to see if we can further improve the expired auction process for everyone. However the domain life cycle is very tight at the end and there are several moving parts to make this work. Over time we have improved the auctions dramatically and now the overwhelming majority of domains that have a winner wind up in the winner's account. If you look at this time last year vs today there have been changes that help you guarantee the domains wind up in your account.

 

[alcy]

We do not have control over another company's domain policies. We are working with various companies to see if we can further improve the expired auction process for everyone. However the domain life cycle is very tight at the end and there are several moving parts to make this work. Over time we have improved the auctions dramatically and now the overwhelming majority of domains that have a winner wind up in the winner's account. If you look at this time last year vs today there have been changes that help you guarantee the domains wind up in your account.

just curious.. what woudl you say is the % gd registered domains on gd expired auctions vs outside registrars? 80/20? 70/30? more or less?

and why can't you.. in the very least.. put a dot or asterix.. next to the ones which aren't on gd.. so people know? that sounds like 5 minutes of codign to me.

 

[Joe Styler]

It is easy enough to figure out on your own. Download the listings on the FTP and run them through a bulk whois strip out GoDaddy and Wild West and you have the remaining expired names. It is roughly 70% GoDaddy but I say roughly. You can find out the exact number if you want by looking it up via the ftp and whois. We can't put an asterisk on names but possibly we will disclose them in the future. The issue is legal and not development. We have contracts in place saying we will not disclose where the names are coming from. You can still check yourself on the whois if you want.

 

[alcy]

It is easy enough to figure out on your own. Download the listings on the FTP and run them through a bulk whois strip out GoDaddy and Wild West and you have the remaining expired names. It is roughly 70% GoDaddy but I say roughly. You can find out the exact number if you want by looking it up via the ftp and whois. We can't put an asterisk on names but possibly we will disclose them in the future. The issue is legal and not development. We have contracts in place saying we will not disclose where the names are coming from. You can still check yourself on the whois if you want.

yes I know its doable for us to check... and I clearly did not know about the legal part..

obviously the point I was making is:

to put asterix for your team of coders, worktime = generously, 1 hour.

to check all domaisn for each of millions clients.. worktime = I dunno 20 mins.

20 mins x millions of clients.. = well.. millions of minutes.

the latter being considerably more than 1 hour for your tech team.

so that was my point

of course its all good for nothing now, cause of your legal terms

thnks anyway. cheers.

 

[Joe Styler]

Don't check millions of names. Check the couple you are interested in bidding on before you bid. Then you will know where you stand on the auction in a minute.

 

[TERADOMAIN]

It is easy enough to figure out on your own. Download the listings on the FTP and run them through a bulk whois strip out GoDaddy and Wild West and you have the remaining expired names. It is roughly 70% GoDaddy but I say roughly. You can find out the exact number if you want by looking it up via the ftp and whois. We can't put an asterisk on names but possibly we will disclose them in the future. The issue is legal and not development. We have contracts in place saying we will not disclose where the names are coming from. You can still check yourself on the whois if you want.

Thanks for your response.

Here is another thing GoDaddy can do if they want. For outside GoDaddy name coming to GoDaddy expired auction. Why don’t GoDaddy list only those name who passed renewal period of expired names at partner registrar. So that way all confusion will be cleared and all names at GoDaddy will go to winners account 100% guaranteed like Namejet and Dropcatch do.

I politely conveyed this point of view in my previous message too but I understand you may be busy so may have overlooked and didn’t respond about it. I do understand that.

Can you please take some more important steps to make GoDaddy expired auction a one of the best place to participate without any doubt about name going to be in account or not?? Here GoDaddy care about only partner registrar and their policy and don’t care about buyer, their time and effort with money at all.

Thanks

 

[alcy]

Don't check millions of names. Check the couple you are interested in bidding on before you bid. Then you will know where you stand on the auction in a minute.

I wasnt talking about me or some one person checking millions of names
I was talking about millions of people checking couple names.
its still millions of minutes for all... over months or years of time... versus 1 hour of work for your coders.

if ever you change your legal terms that is.

cheers

 

[Joe Styler]

Thanks for your response.

Here is another thing GoDaddy can do if they want. For outside GoDaddy name coming to GoDaddy expired auction. Why don’t GoDaddy list only those name who passed renewal period of expired names at partner registrar. So that way all confusion will be cleared and all names at GoDaddy will go to winners account 100% guaranteed like Namejet and Dropcatch do.

I politely conveyed this point of view in my previous message too but I understand you may be busy so may have overlooked and didn’t respond about it. I do understand that.

Can you please take some more important steps to make GoDaddy expired auction a one of the best place to participate without any doubt about name going to be in account or not?? Here GoDaddy care about only partner registrar and their policy and don’t care about buyer, their time and effort with money at all.

Thanks

I answered you above directly below your post. The short answer is we can't. I have given you the longer answer above.

 

[TERADOMAIN]

I answered you above directly below your post. The short answer is we can't. I have given you the longer answer above.

Thanks for your response.

So basically that means you care more about partnering registrar and simply don’t even care about the pain of buyer who participate in auction keeping in mind they will win. Buyer also put their time, effort and money behind it. Any good business model think about their customer first because they are in business because of their customer not because of their so called partners. Buyer look for quality service not looking for how beautiful partners company has.

I myself happy about GoDaddy ovrall. I tried to bring valid points to our attention. But seems like GoDaddy has different idea and they are more concerned about making their partners happy.

Yahoo was huge , Kodak was huge but where are they?? In short of company don’t care about their customer or don’t listen to their customer then they will lose their customer to those who provide better services and listen to their customer.

This expired auction is big concern for so many and still GoDaddy kept loop hole like name from partner and we don’t control their policy bla bla bla.

I am happy with GoDaddy. But I like honesty and transparency so I brought this point to GoDaddy attention. I am happy overall except no clarity about expired name auction at GoDaddy

Thanks

 

[Joe Styler]

I am not sure what else to say except it is not possible now it has nothing to do with wanting or not wanting to do it and that we have over time continued to improve the auctions fulfillment and are continually working on doing so. I never said we won't or do not want to. I said we have been and will continue to do so but we do not control other companies and at this time some of the fulfillment is outside our control and we will continue to work on improving the fulfillment despite that as we have been.

 

[equity78]

Thanks for answering. I am wondering though, with all that has gone on recently with the discovery of shill bidders in July of this year on the other platform (as I am sure you might have read all the threads)- it seems like being the largest company you could take the opportunity to be taking the leadership role- giving a permanent handle to a trackable paid customer name, with a prefunded account. If not now, then sometime in the near future. I understand some of the biggest customers, don't want to be tracked and they probably account for the most gross revenue. Perfectly understandable. But I would think it would be less overhead for Godaddy (No employee intervention) since the system is somewhat self policing when all bidders know what's going on and bidders ID's.

In live auctions, people actually know who they are bidding against. Even if they have a proxy on a cell phone.

Right now, I don't understand who I am bidding against a real person or "team of persons" or if it's an API or outside sniping software, etc. Some level of Transparency would help, not just bidder 1, bidder 2 and 3 on each auction.

I simply stopped bidding a few months ago after feeling that something was going on. I'd like to return and with new non-clawback change I will check it out. Thank you.

Exactly, either you believe in transparency or you don't.

 

[equity78]

Just an Update.
Its now been 22 days and still no domains or no refund.

Did you ever get the refund?